CRUSADE FOR JUSTICE pt1

[IAN SPARTICUS HARDY]

CRUSADE FOR JUSTICE. Ian Sparticus HARDY 9 Tallawarra ave PADSTOW 2211 0418219472 [e-mail]

about 14,200 words

CRUSADE FOR JUSTICE. by Ian Sparticus Hardy.

THE MAN WHO NEVER EXISTED
This is the true story about my family and our extraordinary journey that has taken place over 50 years and is still unfolding to this day. It all revolves around, The Official Secrets Act of the United Kingdom, that was unwittingly signed by my Dad without the benefit of hindsight and if he had realized just how this single event would later affect us all then I am sure he would have declined to sign it. The Nuclear Research Group A.E.I, a secret cover or front company that on the outside appeared to be an Electrical factory but in actuality was a Top Secret Research Laboratory. An honest man who was a devoted loving husband and loving father to five children. However if you believe the United Kingdom’s spin, Dad never, ever, existed. Well I can assure you he existed, but sadly he is now only in spirit, gone but not forgotten, silent yet vocal as he guides me through the writing of our story. Staff Sgt Norman Hardy, Royal Engineer s/n 22043729, my dear deceased Dad born in Manchester. United Kingdom on the 09/03/1930, he was born the second son of Mr. Jack Hardy, my grandad who was a WW1 soldier, who with his brother in-law Christopher Hall, enlisted in the military and set off for France in WW1, grandad was gassed by mustard gas in the trenches of the Somme in France and survived but Christopher grandma’s brother, lost his life. The reason I include the details about my grandad is this, I tried many times to talk Dad into going public with his story, but he just refused and could nor would bring himself to reveal the secrets that he carried and I think it had something to do with his beliefs and what he believed about his country, it was the whole thing with his Dad being in the military and Uncle John, Dad’s brother who was a soldier and fought in the Deserts of Africa, then Dad later enlisted in the Royal Engineers. So I guess he came to reason that rather than embarrass the United Kingdom by going public he would stay silent, which is exactly what he did. But neither Mum or any of us the children ever signed the Official secrets act, or expected to be so physically affected by Dads work, yet we all were by different degrees both mentally and physically, so this is my reason for writing our story, to try to force or shame the United Kingdom into admitting a mistake was made and accepting as a moral responsibility, the damage done to our family then to apologize officially as It cannot be solely blamed on the company AEI as they are not responsible for the charter of The Official Secrets Act only the United Kingdom’s Government is. Yet trying even to get them to comment is like trying to turn lead into gold.

FIRST SON IS BORN.

CRUSADE FOR JUSTICE.
I will begin the story from when I, the eldest son, Ian Sparticus Hardy, was born into the world at our home in Middleton on the 14/02/1958 Valentine’s Day, mum always said that I was a love child and being the first son I felt like I was one. Mum said Dad took me down stairs after my birth to show me off to the rest of the family my three sisters Uncle Eddie and Aunty Betty, he raised me in the air and Mum said at that very moment whilst I was being held high in the air I piddled and like a water pistol it went straight into Dad’s cup of tea that was sat on the fireplace mantel piece, so my life had begun. Dad had already been working for Metropolitan Vickers from 2/3/1953 as a Fitter employed in the Electronics W.W.6, on the assembly of specialized equipment for the Admiralty (Anti-Submarine). Also as a Fitter in the Railway Signals Dept, on the manufacture of various train control equipments, ending on the 20/5/1957. Moving then as a Fitter employed in the Physical Metallurgy, Nuclear Research Department S.17 as an Assistant to Metallurgists and the building of Vacuum furnaces, general and specialized lab set ups, the machining of Special Nuclear Alloys and carrying out the experiments and tests to order,
until 15/7/1957, then he was promoted to Laboratory Technician level 5 Employed as above until 14/10/1957, when he was promoted to Laboratory Technician level 6 Employed as above, until 1/2/1960, then promoted to Staff Laboratory Technician, Transferred to Beryllium Laboratory, employed as above but under Toxic Hazard conditions. Also employed in operation of Vacuum Arc Melting Furnaces and specialized welding operations with the Vacuum Bell Jar and also normal Argon Arc welding, until 30/3/1964. Then Staff Laboratory Technician, Section name was then changed to Special Alloys. Employed as above, also several months of Experimental Welding of Erosion Shields and Stellite to Turbine Blades, until 24/8/1966. Dad also worked on the Blue Bird’s Engine he modified it, then he went on to do a specialised welding job for the Dungeness Nuclear Power Station, welding Neutron sources for something involving the reactor, then finally he worked at Lucas Heights Atomic Reactor at Menai, an inner suburb of greater Sydney Australia. So here I am the eldest son of five children, I have three elder sister’s Lynn who is the eldest, then Anne and Jill. My younger brother Colin would be born on the 04/01/1960. One of my first real recollections is when I am five years old it is my birthday, I can hear the loud roar of my dad’s Norton Commando 600cc motor bike, pulling into the drive way of our home at 23 Rothmay drive, Middleton, he has my present sticking out of the side car of his bike, I ran outside as I always did to the arms of my waiting Dad his leather overcoat wet from the rain but it did not matter it was my Dad, he would pick me up and sit me on the tank and let me play with the light and horn but not on this day as he has a surprise, it’s a five foot long grey painted Aircraft carrier made from oak wood and made to scale, with twenty model jets all delicately painted with decals on each wing, it was just incredible the deck of the carrier also had a movable lowering hangar for the jets to be placed below deck the detail was just magical, underneath on the bottom of the carrier on each corner there are special cups that dad has designed especially for me and in each cup there is a large stainless steel ball placed so that the Aircraft carrier could move on the ground like a carrier would do at sea, as I think back now I have a bit of a chuckle about what if ? The United Kingdom’s government had found out about their Top Secret Research Laboratory S.17 being used for building my birthday present and that half of its top research people had played a crucial role in building a small boy’s birthday present. There would have been hell to pay I am sure of it and looking back now it is quite amazing to me. I used to lie on top of it and roll down the hill on it, being an adventurous boy, it was the natural thing to do, and I often wonder what ever happened to it after we left for Australia. My Dad was a genius and I say this not because he was my Dad but due to the fact that he was able to see into the future or a future thinker, as a lot of the things he made for me as a child like the three sided boomerang, later were reinvented many years later, it was funny though as I had already had many of the future toys as a child. Our home was always filled with the sounds of laughter, from either us kids, Aunty, or Dad and Uncle Eddie who would always be doing something funny or interesting as Uncle Eddie was also a genius having passed the Royal Air force Cadets with the highest scores ever up until then, however he later changed to the H.M.S Navy due to his father, my granddad Edward Moran having been in the Navy, so he then became Lieutenant Eddie Moran, so the combination of him and Dad together created the perfect storm so to speak, I remember one night when Uncle Eddie stayed over and Dad was just administering the finishing touches to my train set, suddenly my train set became the universe to both of them and I never got to play with it that night as Dad and Uncle Eddie sat playing with it till the wee small hours of the morning, designing new ideas for rail engine loads and also they staged a few rail crashes on my special ¼ inch thick moulded bridge made from a super light weight Aluminium alloy, that Dad had made me whilst at work in the S.17 lab, I was a very lucky boy in that respect Uncle Eddie was a maths wizard and could mathematically solve any problem and if he could not change it to fit with maths, like Dad he would reinvent it or modify whatever it was to fit and work. I remember when I was only 4 he tried to teach me addition, subtraction, division and multiplication from our new set of encyclopaedias, he sat me on his knee with the encyclopaedias opened on the arm rest and he was getting very frustrated that I could not grasp the inner dimensions of Einstein’s theory’s or so it seemed, I remember crying a lot that night as each time I would get the answer wrong he turned a darker shade of red, thankfully mum saved me from any further torture as it was time for bed, but he loved me and I loved him, it’s a shame he is gone. It was around this time that Dad was moved into the Highly Toxic Beryllium Laboratory another Secret Laboratory of the AEI POWER GROUP. Mum told me that she had begged him, not to go into this Lab but he could never say no to his superiors. Dad was always a very diligent worker and if he was ordered to do something by a superior, he would do it without question. This did happen quite regularly as the two letters written approximately two years apart will show. Rather than try to condense the two I feel it is better to just let you read them both in their entirety. The first one is to Dads Eye Surgeon. This is the Letter my Dad wrote to
Dr. R. Loudon his Eye Surgeon.
Dated 30th November .1971 Dear Sir, Enclosed is an account of the work in progress in the Secret Research Laboratory S.17 in (v) building, during the period 1957 to 1966 and my actual involvement in each project. Most of this information will no doubt be irrelevant, but is included in case it has some bearing on the condition of my eyes. If there is any basis what so ever for submitting a claim to England then I should be most grateful to consult yourself and any other opinion you suggest for advice in this matter. The fitting for the lens was done as arranged by Mr. Mc Monnies. But there is a delay due to sending to America for the lens.
METROPOLITAN VICKERS, SECRET RESEARCH DEPARTMENT, LABORATORY S.17’s (V) BUILDING, NUCLEAR METALLURGY SECTION. Initial duties were as Laboratory Technician assisting Metallurgists Dr P.R.V. Evans and Mr. C Moore. The first project was one of conducting feasibility tests in methods of producing Uranium Fuel Element plates. The plates were manufactured by several methods, the main one being the flat pressing one. This entailed the setting up of a mild steel frame filled with Uranium powder in between High speed steel plates. The whole was compressed under a 200 ton press and heating was supplied by High Frequency Induction. I myself with Dr Evans did all the setting up before the pressing. On completion of pressing operation I would then dismantle the set up myself and cut the Uranium plate from the mild steel frame to make a specimen for Dr Evans. The High Speed Steel pressing plates {which had to be absolutely flat, and which were indented slightly during pressing} would then be surface ground flat on a grinder by me to prepare for the next operation. All this work was performed with bare hands and without any Air Extraction Equipment. Another method of producing Plates was by Cold Pressing of Uranium powder with 2% wax added. These I removed from the pressing mould and placed in a Vacuum Furnace to do De-Waxing and sintering operations. All the Uranium plates from both hot and cold pressings were then surface ground to a specific square and thickness by me. Project 2 was now started by Dr Evans, still in connection with the Fuel Element program me. Apparently, some Uranium Fuel Elements when in use in the Reactor
were subjected to a thermal Cycling between 300'c and 700'c, this caused the Uranium to grow in size and eventually burst the Stainless steel containers in which they were sealed and so contaminated the C02 gas in the Heat Transfer unit. After building a Test Rig Furnace in the Laboratory to simulate actual Cycling conditions. We made up a series of Alloys of Uranium and Cycled them on the equipment for set periods, with checks for size and deformation of the specimens at intervals. This work was done mainly by me and Dr Evans and Mr. C Moore. The object of this project was to produce a stable alloy which would not change during Thermal Cycling. At this stage due to the Pyroforic nature of the Uranium and after a small fire on the Surface Grinder; I was given the task of converting the Surface Grinder so that Uranium could be cut under water. This was accomplished by a steel tank covered by a Perspex box, with sliding doors for access and to accommodate the traverse of the machine. All cutting and grinding operations were done in this manner from then on by me. (Later we discovered that even this did not meet the standards of safety required at other Laboratories engaged in this work). After 12 to 15 months of work on the Fuel Element projects, in an open Laboratory the whole job was suddenly closed down and sealed off. All Uranium was packed into containers and sent to another Laboratory at Aldermaston a Severe Decontamination program me began to eliminate Radiation and Toxic Hazard. This state of affairs came to light due to a Mrs. Isabelle Hardwich a Scientist who had, had a low blood count came to work in part of our Laboratory and as a safety precaution she requested that it be monitored by the Radiation Section. Apparently this work should have been carried out under Hazard conditions but due to a lack of information this was not done by the Metallurgists and the work just went ahead. All staff involved were sent for Urine and Blood Count Tests and pronounced fit. I had a low blood count and had further tests by Dr Wilkinson a Manchester Specialist. The medical staff assured me that everything was alright even though I had actually handled more Uranium and for much longer periods (weekends etc) than any other Technician in the Section. All this happened before the strict Medical Supervision which Dr Wallace mentioned in his letter which you have. After Decontamination was completed Dr Evans went to America and I was transferred to another Metallurgist Mr. E. Lloyd who had in use various projects in progress which were mostly conventional metallurgy,( i.e. Tensile tests, corrosion experiments etc ) and most of my initial work was making specimens and assisting in these tests. Then a new project started on Special Welding of materials like Zirconium, Niobium and Molybdenum in controlled atmospheres. My first job was designing and making a Vacuum Bell Jar Unit for this purpose. The Unit comprised of a 24 inch diameter x24 inch deep x 3/8 inch thick glass jar which was used as a cover over a table with a fixed Welding Electrode and traversing mechanisms. The interior was pumped out with a Rotary and Diffusion Vacuum pumps and then filled with high purity Argon (99.995) to about 1/3 rd of an atmosphere. The specimen then to be welded was then traversed radially or laterally in a jig as required. A High Frequency Injector was used to start the Arc. The atmosphere was further purified by starting the Arc on a small block of Zirconium which acted as a (Getter). A welding helmet was worn during these operations and all welding over the years it was in use was done by me. Zirconium glows with tremendous intensity when melting and this is another possible cause of the premature cataracts? Only conventional Argon Arc welding glass was used and this may not have been good enough for this extensive use with Zirconium. Mr. Lloyd was moved to a subsidiary company and I was transferred to the Beryllium Laboratory Staff. This was when the period of strict Medical care which Dr Wallace mentioned began. The Beryllium Laboratory was equipped to operate under full Toxic Hazard conditions, with a carefully monitored atmosphere, fume cupboards, showers and changes of clothing and shoes etc, to avoid contamination of any kind. I must add it was a pleasure to work in such conditions. During the years in the laboratory, my duties were varied, working for several Graduate Metallurgists on various projects. The Vacuum Bell Jar was transferred with me and I continued to weld on and off, on various projects.The biggest of these was on preparing Zirconium/Hiobium electrodes for a new wire conductor, this involved quite a lot of long welding operations on Zirconium. The Beryllium Lab was closed down during an 18 month period of De-Contamination in which I took part. All scrap and contaminated waste was sealed in special steel drums cast in concrete prior to dumping in the Irish Sea, The Vacuum Bell Jar Unit was De-Contaminated and still used for welding Zirconium and other work. When the laboratory was finally cleared I was transferred once again This was to work with Dr D.G.JONES a metallurgist on a new project, which was experimenting in the conventional Arc welding of Erosion Shields on Turbine Blades. The work was a success and this was my position until migrating to Australia in September 1966.Well Dr Loudon, I have tied these recollections together as well as can be remembered and I trust you will forgive my spelling errors etc. The two main points on reading over my notes are the handling and work with Uranium Metal and Oxide, without the proper safety condition now in operation and the special welding done in the Bell Jar Unit with the Zirconium as the possible cause of my eye condition .One never thinks about these things when they occur, but it does seem a little more than coincidence that I was deeply involved in this unconventional type of work more than anyone else in the Laboratory and then for this premature condition to come suddenly out of the blue. Yours truly, Norman Hardy.
Footnote,
It was later discounted by most of the Dr’s on our side that welding could cause Dads condition. Tests carried out on the welding glass lenses show they were adequate. Also it was found in medical literature that cataracts occurred amongst the Ukrainian mine workers exposed to Uranium in the mines. It was approximately two years later that the second letter was made and by this time Dad’s life and ours had been turned upside down and was beginning to have serious effects on all of us. Below are pictures of the experimental tools Dad saved from the sealed S.17 and S.15 laboratories the 5 inch X ¾ inch Tungsten Carbide Plate was one of a pair used to press the Uranium Oxides into stainless steel cans and was used instead of High speed steel plates because it did not become dented as the high speed steel ones did after each pressing, I later asked him why he kept these experimental tools and his answer was simple he could not bear to see the Tungsten Carbide Plate and the other tools the solid Tungsten Carbide reamer the only one in the world which was made by my Dad and a solid Tungsten Carbide welding tip also made by him thrown away.

SECOND LETTER.
The second letter Dad had written was to a Mr. Woods who was helping with Dads case against the company for gross negligence, here is his later letter which covers his job with a little more detail, I would also like to add that Dad did not include all of the secrets he was privy to as he was a little concerned due to the fact that he had signed the Official Secrets Act and therefore could be arrested and subject to prosecution. This letter you are about to read are my Dads own recollections, that he spoke to Mum as wrote down his words as he was at this point blind. The letter had to be written for a Negligence case against the United Kingdom. All details in the letter are still to this day covered by the Official Secrets Act of the United Kingdom. Dated 13 December 1973 9 Tallawarra, Ave Padstow 2211 Australia.

METROPOLITAN VICKERS, SECRET RESEARCH DEPARTMENT, NUCLEAR LABORATORY S.17’s (V) BUILDING, BERYLLIUM LABORATORY S.15’s (S) BUILDING, METALLURGY SECTION. Dear Mr. Woods, as requested, I will try to recollect details of the work in progress in the Physical Metallurgy Laboratories, during the period relating to the claim, ref: 1957 to 1966. Transferred into the Research Department, I was given the job of assisting Dr P.R.V. Evans. The Plates were approximately 2 ½” x 2 ½” x 3/8” and all work was done in an open Laboratory in S.17’s “V “building, with bare hands and no fume cupboards or protective aids whatsoever. Tea was brewed and sandwiches and meals were consumed in the Laboratory at tea breaks and lunch time. There were three main methods of production investigated; the first one was by the Cold Pressing of Uranium powder and Oxides in a jig with 2% wax added. These pressings were removed and carefully loaded onto refractory tiles in a stainless steel cradle. The whole was then inserted into a high temperature furnace (which we manufactured) with a water cooled de waxing head inside. After de-waxing at low temperature under vacuum, the temperature was increased to accomplish the sintering of the specimens. These were removed after an overnight cooling period, but on two occasions we had a fire, caused by the specimens igniting due to premature opening of the vacuum furnace. These were controlled by quickly evacuating the furnace with the vacuum pumps. Another method of producing plates was by flat pressing of the Uranium powders in a mild steel matrix, between high speed steel plates. This was set up on a 200 ton press, inside a high frequency induction coil which provided the required pressing temperatures. After pressing operations, the specimens were removed and I would then saw the mild steel matrix away from the Uranium with a hacksaw and then cut the specimen to the required size and thickness on a surface grinder. The high speed steel plates were indented during each pressing operation and would be surface ground flat by myself before the next pressing. The third method was the centrifugal casting of plates in a high frequency vacuum furnace. Four plates were cast from a central stem. On removal they were hack sawn off the central stem and then made into specimens on the surface grinder in S.17’s (V) building. All this work was done as stated before without any air extraction or protection. Dr Evans then began another project which was investigating the possibilities of making a stable alloy of Uranium, which would not grow in size when subjected to thermal cycling conditions between 300*c and 700*c. Mr. Colin Moore a graduate metallurgist came into the team and we were moved into a new lab in S.17 (V) building with the vacuum sintering furnace. We proceeded to make a test rig to simulate conditions of thermal cycling in the reactor. This was finished and specimens of different alloys were made which were 1” x 1” x 1/8” in size. These were made on the surface grinder. The specimens were mounted on a stainless steel hook and welded into a stainless steel can in a vacuum arc melting furnace (see sketches). After mounting the cans were sawn open, examined and measured for deformation, etc, before re-canning and continuing the cycling tests. An old surface grinder was acquired and I adapted this to our needs with jig and slitting wheel. After a small fire on the grinder, Dr Evans and I suggested that an underwater cutting set up would be advisable. This I designed and made (see attached sketch) and covered the fire hazard. Later a Dr Napton from Aldermaston came on a visit and informed me that even this would not be acceptable at Aldermaston and that even the grinding spindle would have to be effectively sealed. It was then suggested that I wear rubber gloves when handling the wet specimens of Uranium, because of toxic hazard. Tea and food were consumed in the laboratory and even the vacuum pumps were exhausted into the laboratory atmosphere. A Mrs. Isabelle Hardwich, a scientist who was experimenting on electron beam welding arrived to take over part of the laboratory. She requested that the laboratory first be monitored by the Radiation Section and this was done. It was after this was done that the laboratory and surrounding buildings were discovered to be red hot. After this, all the Uranium was packed into containers and dispatched to Aldermaston. A severe decontamination program me was implemented both in (V) building and (S) building. Unfortunately, my knowledge of the Isotope values of the materials handled is vague and it did not seem my place to question this factor, when Dr Evans and Mr. Colin Moore who were graduate metallurgists never doubted the competence of the people responsible for the projects, namely Dr. T. Raine and Mr. L.D. Brownlee. They were as surprised as me when we were required to undergo medical tests for possible ill effects. These tests were in the form of urine tests over a period of time and blood tests by a Dr. Wilkinson a Pathologist in Manchester. As stated before, I had a low blood count and required further tests later which were taken by medical staff at work and the samples sent to Dr. Wilkinson. Later we were pronounced fit and well, but at a safety conference we were told by Mr. P.P. Starling the Research Manager, that the company had been guilty of gross neglect in this matter. Dr. Evans left to go to a post in Chicago U.S.A and later Mr. Colin Moore left the company. I was then transferred to work with another graduate metallurgist, Mr. Eric Lloyd in laboratory S.15’s (S) building. The work initially was of a conventional nature, e.g. tensile tests on Molybdenum and Zirconium alloys. Then began the project which is the other facet, of the claim put forward for radiation this was the making of the vacuum bell jar welding unit, (see sketch). This unit was for special welding of Molybdenum and Zirconium in controlled atmospheres. After making the unit and testing, we began extensive welding of Molybdenum specimens, both lateral welds and end caps on cylindrical specimens. The bell jar was evacuated with rotary and diffusion pumps and then flooded to 1/3rd of an atmosphere with 99.995 argon gas. Before each weld, the fixed Tungsten electrode was arced on a block of Zirconium to act as a “Getter” and further purify the atmosphere for the welding tests. After this project finished, Mr. Lloyd was transferred to Metro Cutanit, a subsidiary company. Once again I was transferred, this time to the Beryllium Laboratory. This Laboratory was operated under full toxic hazard conditions, with filtered extracts, fume cupboards and the surface grinder was completely encased, with glove ports for operation. The bell jar unit was installed and used for many projects. All welding was done by me. A project was started on Zirconium, Niobium to make a super conductor wire. Electrodes of these metals were required to be melted into ingots in a consumable arc melting furnace. The electrodes were made up of 12” x 1” x ¼” Flat strips of each of the metals and were required to be welded along the length of each side. These involved long welding periods on the vacuum bell jar unit. Only the conventional welding glass was used and on reflection, I am now of the opinion that this was not good enough for these metals. Having had a lot of special welding experience on stainless steels, e.g. the welding of the Neutron sources for the Dungeness Power Station, I now remember that when welding the Zirconium, all the details of objects in view are extremely clear, whereas on the conventional metals it is only the immediate proximity of the weld pool which is visible in any detail. The melting of Zirconium in vacuum arc furnaces of the consumable and nonconsumable is a far different proposition than in the bell jar unit, for the following reasons. In the arc furnaces of both types the metals are melted to purify and obviously give off the impurities, which condense on the water cooled walls and also the 2” viewing port glass. This acts to some degree as a filter. As you will appreciate also, the consumable type furnace electrode is arc melted into a deep, water cooled copper crucible and the arc is only visible at the end of the melting operation whilst “topping” the ingot. Having used both types of furnace quite extensively, one can make an honest and feasible comparison with the bell jar unit. The reason, that these observations have been included, in anticipation of an argument that other Technicians and Graduates used these furnaces with no present ill effects. Only I used the Vacuum Bell Jar Unit and it can be seen clearly from the enclosed sketch of the unit, that the whole operation “is in the open” so to speak. Well gentleman, that is all that I can recollect that could have any bearing on the present state of my vision, After five operations over the last three years to remove both lenses and rectify post operative complications, I am left with one good eye with a soft Hydron lens fitted, which enables me to pursue a comparatively simple job as a maintenance fitter. Your honest appraisal of the situation and probable cause would be greatly appreciated. Yours sincerely, Norman Hardy.
CRUSADE FOR JUSTICE.
Footnote. I am the eldest son of Staff Sgt Norman Hardy, Royal Engineer, deceased, and would like to add a few words on behalf of my Dad. Your actions caused my Dad to become a broken man,

you broke him into pieces piece by bloody piece, until nothing else remained that resembled the strong Dad that I loved and knew he was but a memory. It haunted Dad the fact that children around S.17 would play in storm drains the very same drains that waste was daily washed into as a company policy, if it’s unseen there is no problem. Also the dumping of thousands of Toxic Beryllium and Radioactive filled drums into the Irish Sea, would often play on his mind as he felt partly responsible. Even after all the pain and anguish we all went through, he still would not hear a bad word said about the United Kingdom, go figure, it caused an almighty bump in our relationship as father and son, as he had become so beaten by what had happened to him that I started to resent him for not fighting back with every ounce of strength that I knew he could muster. However I came to understand this love he had for his country it was a genetic thing and he just loved his country of birth. This love caused him to be greatly hurt when his solicitor came back from UK coining the phrase The Man Who Never Was, saying that Dad no longer existed in the records, he had been expunged. Dad was the eternal optimist and would always make things seem better than they were, believe me when I say this, that his eye sight was terrible and without a thick magnifying glass in hand he could not read or see any detail or writing. Then after 7 years of hope and tortured waiting, expecting to get some form of assistance from the United Kingdom it came as a crushing blow to Dad and Mum that the country we loved, had in all honesty abandoned him and us half way around the world out of sight out of mind is how they saw us. So that is why I am so strongly intent on pushing or shaming the United Kingdom into accepting they were negligent in the operation of the laboratory and therefore culpable for covering up what took place long ago. All I firstly wished for us was an official apology to my Mum for all she was put through and secondly for us the children, we never signed any Official Secrets Act so why are we held to the same restrictions that Dad was. All attempts at going public by myself came to zero as the reach of the United Kingdom and its tentacles stopped all of my attempts at telling Dads story, I went behind his back out of frustration to A Current Affairs 7 in 1979 and they wanted to interview my Dad at home, an appointment was arranged for the next day with a reporter and a camera crew, but late that night I received a phone call from the leading reporter saying that it had come from above the producer that the story was to be canned and would not be aired, he was quite upset and stated that he was sorry, I asked him has this ever happened before and he said no. I then tried The Friends of the Earth movement here in Australia following the reporter’s advice, but it was the same ending with a similar outcome. It was not until Twitter and Scribd with the easy access to the internet that a door was opened allowing me to publicly reveal what took place at the secret research laboratory S.17 and S.15 in Trafford Park, it came too late for my Dad who sadly had passed away, but he is inside me in spirit and I can hear him laughing inside me as I write his and our story, so I know his spirit lives on he sometimes even corrects me if I get parts of the story wrong, I love you Dad. We called Twitter, Dads white horse, his unbridled beast of free speech it is on there that I placed all the pictures of his experimental tools used at the S.17 Research Lab including the 5” inch X ¾” inch thick solid Tungsten Carbide Plate used to press thousands of Uranium Fuel Plates. These he brought from the United Kingdom to Australia in 1966 for his job at Lucas Heights Nuclear Reactor at Menai in Sydney, along with documents and other pictures on Twitpic /sparticusian. So at last he has a global audience his and our story is slowly getting seen around the world in blogs and other posts so for me it is a victory for the ordinary man against the might of an Empire. THE CONTACT LENS DRAMA.
CRUSADE FOR JUSTICE.
After Dad had his eye surgery he was fitted with a soft Hydron contact lens, not like lenses now though that you can leave in for days, these had to be removed each night, washed, then boiled in special container then placed inside special cases, one night Dad had been drinking as he started to do more often due to his predicament and fell asleep in the lounge room, we all were there and mum woke him telling him to go to bed, but to first take his lens out and clean it, well he stumbled to his feet and sat at the kitchen table and tried to take his lens out but could not do it, so mum began to help him as she had on many occasions before, when she looked in his eye the lens was gone, well there was ructions and all of us then, with a magnifying glass and torches in hand on all fours we all started to look for the elusive contact lens, we spent hours on all fours searching every inch of the carpet but with no luck, so we all went to bed upset that night, the next morning Dad got up came into the lounge and sat next to Mum feeling sad and down about losing his expensive contact lens and saying he was sorry, they kissed and made up, then Mum looked down at the floor and stuck on top of the front of Dads shoe was the soft Hydron contact lens, it had gone a little hard being sat in the open air all night but it softened up again once it was washed then boiled and cleaned. This was just one of the many funny but serious things that drew us closer together as a family. It seemed that no matter what befell us as a family it just made us closer together.
AUSTRALIA OUR NEW HOME.
Our story begins after Dad left the Research Laboratory, in preparation for our journey to our new home 12,000 miles away in Sydney, Australia. We all had to say goodbye to our neighbours and friends, this was a sad time and I remember asking Uncle Arthur if I could stay with them and not have to go on the ship I don’t know why but I kind of had a premonition or déjà vu with a good dose of impending doom. But the feeling soon gave way to a child’s great expectations of our new home across the sea plus Dad was a good salesmen also by telling us story’s at night before bed about the Kangaroo’s , Kookaburra’s and Koala bears so we were sold.
AUNTY BETTY DIE’S.
Just before we left the United Kingdom my Aunty Betty passed away, she had taken me on my own as she had done many times before to a Middleton Cinema theatre to see a movie with her. After the show finished we would always buy fish and chips before boarding the bus home, I used to stay over at her flat next door to our own home. I remember being a bit of a pest and running and hiding from Aunty on the way home nothing out of the ordinary for me, but she must have been frantic. Unknown to me she was having a heart attack on the bus coming home and she somehow held on until she reached our street, then half way up our street where she could see our home, she stopped where she could see the front of our house, then sat on a wall and said to me, would you be a good boy and run ahead and knock on the door for me, so I began to run on home turning to look at Aunty Betty as I ran, I remember it was very foggy and I looked down the street and saw a man in a full length coat and hat walk under a street light and as I looked back at Aunty she leaned forward slowly crumpling off the brick walled fence and fell to the cold concrete pavement, I yelled too her and ran faster home reaching the door and with an almighty bang I crashed into it kicking and screaming that something was wrong with Aunty, Mum instantly ran to her telling me to stay inside, by this time our neighbours hearing all the noise came to see what was wrong. We all ran to Auntie’s side, then mum sent Lynn, Anne and myself to find Dad while they waited for the Ambulance. Dad and Uncle Arthur was at the Red Lion pub their local, so we had them brought to the front door and by the time we got back to Auntie the Ambulance was there tending to her, where they picked her up putting her onto a stretcher then taking her to the Hospital, where she was pronounced D.O.A. So it was a happy and a very sad moment in time for all of us as we were a very close knit family, Auntie lived right next door to us so she was always in our lives. I remember after the funeral Dad took me to her flat and I remember being very angry at Dad for going through her things, but looking back at it now we were her only family, so she would have wanted us to have her things. NORTON COMMANDO 600cc. So this is where I started our journey at 23 Rothmay drive, Middleton, Lancashire United Kingdom. My dad Norman and mother Jean started our lives as a family here, Dad rode a Norton Commando 600cc bike my fondest memory is that bike, Dad would pick me up in his arms, I was about 5 or 6 and he would sit me on the petrol tank with my hands on the handle bars and he would put his riding goggles and helmet on me and off we would go roaring through Middleton, I thought I was driving, it was incredible, he would take me to school on it and all the other kids would ogle at us as we roared up to the school, I could see it on their faces that they wished it was them, but it was me. The other thing that I remember is Mum and Dad being so much in love that they stood out everywhere we would go. People would always look and smile at them in shops or on buses or anywhere. Dad was a toolmaker by trade, after being demobbed from the army, he was Staff Sgt Norman Hardy British Royal Engineers, he was so proud of that, after leaving there he took a job at Metropolitan Vickers later Dad would move to the subsidiary AEI POWER GROUP in Trafford Park Manchester. He worked on many various tasks like the Bluebird car that broke all the speed records at that time, The Admiralty Submarine and Anti Detection Equipment I think he said it was, he then moved up the ladder to a Top Secret Research Laboratory called S.17 on Nuclear Research. He built a small scale Nuclear Reactor which on two occasions was opened prematurely and the specimens caught fire contaminating the lab and surrounding buildings, there were other fires at other times during his many experiments. It was only after a Dr Isabelle Hardwich requested a Geiger reading be taken as she had been exposed before that they discovered that the building was red hot. This was quickly sealed off to personnel and later was cut to pieces, all machinery the reactor a 200 ton press and many other secret machines that my Dad invented and built, were all chopped up and put into 44 gallon stainless steel drums then cast in concrete and dumped into the Irish sea. After this my Dad was offered a position at Lucas Heights Atomic reactor in Sydney Australia. So our journey to Australia was about to begin for us all anew.
GUYFORKS NIGHT. Our Bonfires and cracker night were legendary in our street at 23 Rothmay drive, as Dad and Uncle Eddie would build the most intricate and the biggest fires and would always have the loudest fire crackers, also Dad would always make a paper mashie guy forks man out of a pair of coveralls then carefully filled with balls of squashed news papers in the end it looked like a real person complete with a head he would always be put right up on top of the bonfire it was always a real treat for us kids watching Dad doing his controlled firecrackers that always seemed bigger than anyone else’s crackers Dad was a real commando, I will always him and forever remember cracker night in the United Kingdom. MARS BARS AT AUNTY JOYCE’S’ I remember us all staying with our neighbours the night before we left as all our furniture had been packed into big wooden crates ready for shipping to Australia. Colin and I stayed with Uncle Arthur and Aunty Joyce who worked at a Cadburys chocolate factory and always had boxes and boxes of chocolates and Mars bars stashed in wardrobes and cupboards and it did not take long for me to find them. I awoke covered in chocolates all melted on my chest and face, I never ate chocolates or Mars bars again. After being sick all morning, we all said our tear filled goodbyes and headed for the railway station for our train ride to Southampton,
SOUTHHAMPTON SS AUSTRALIS.
It was an old steam train that took us to meet our ship the SS Australis, once named SS America used as a troop ship built in 1940 weighing 33,500 tons and cruised at an average top speed of 24.68 knots and could reach 25.3 knots, I only know this because they had little booklets all over the ship with her history, sadly she was wrecked while being towed to her
new home as a floating hotel motel, it is very sad as I think back to the way I remember her and saddened to think that she went aground on the West coast of Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands while she was being towed by a tug boat to Thailand and encountered a storm in January 1994. BOARDING OUR NEW HOME. We left from Southampton on board the SS Australis, she was Greek owned part of a fleet from the Chandris Lines, she was a two funnelled ocean liner, the funnels were a light blue with a large white X on each side of her funnels, the rest of the ship was brilliant white, it was every kid’s dream. I remember we boarded late and we went straight to sleep, the next morning we awoke to look out of the port hole to see England getting smaller and smaller, I remember feeling a bit scared and unsure, but dad assured me we would see Kangaroos, Kookaburras, snakes and lizards and he said we could have a dog, what kid would not want that. So we were on our way and our journey had begun, I remember seeing the Rock of Gibraltar lots of people had crowded together to watch the rock pass by as it was pretty close, Dad lifted me up so I could see it better, he held me tightly and did tell me something about the rock but I cannot remember what he said, but it was a nice memory seeing this thing called the Rock of Gibraltar it go by as everyone watched it seemed important for a small boy. The ship was huge I got lost several times in the maze of corridors and the Captain would regularly have search parties out looking for me, they always found me in the end it then became a game and I did it for fun hiding from them. Another time the Captain had a tuxedo night for chosen family's ours was one, they pick certain families to sit with the Captain at his dining table, being young and full of energy I soon got bored so a few of us kids went up on deck to the upper observation corridor that ran the length of the Australis the waves were very big and coming over the rail as it was blowing a gale so we invented a game we would get a deck chair lay it on its side and the wind would blow it down the outer corridor then one went over the rail and in to the ocean we thought it was magnificent so we got more and threw them over the side, unknown to us that they were falling past the port holes where the captain was sitting, they thought it was a man overboard but it was just a bored 8 ¾’ yr old having a bit of fun. Dad belted the crap out of me with a strap but I deserved it. I would like to add that I know it seems like Dad and Mum never watched me but this was not true I was just very good at becoming invisible and taking off but Mum would always be not to far behind hunting me down along with the stewards in charge of our deck, Dad and Mum became quite good friends with our stewards. THE COTTON SPOOLS.
I remember once on the ship Mum and Dad after putting us to bed and thinking we were fast asleep, had gone out for dinner, my younger brother and I awoke to find we were alone in the cabin at dusk, Mum had a box of cottons on spools not the little ones these were big machinists spools with plenty of cotton and stronger than normal cottons, so Colin and I got the box out on the cabin floor and I hung out of the porthole with Colin holding onto my feet I had a toy car that I tied to the end of the cotton spool then using a pencil through centre of the spool as an axle I lowered then dropped the car into the sea, I let it run free I was now leaving the boat and on the way to the bottom of the sea and I imagined being sat in that little car on its way to the bottom ,this was the first time I had ever seen a real dolphin jumping out of the water alongside the ship and seeing a flying fish truly it could fly not for long but it could fly, they were the happy times I remember so well, all mums cottons are at the bottom of the sea between England and Australia. I was a bugger Mum would say, I always seemed to be drawn like a moth to a light and to things that I shouldn’t be doing and would regret it when caught. But things never seemed to change as the spell had already been cast.
THE SUEZ CANAL INCIDENT.
It was after the cotton spool incident that we arrived at the entrance to the Suez canal, it was so amazing this great sea feeding into this tiny straight river of water with just a few meters on each side of the ship, as we sailed through little boys would jump in the canal and wave and shout from the water, Sixpence, Sixpence, they had little pockets made from slitting the skin inside their mouths, folds cut in their cheeks on the inside of the mouth, where they would place the coins you threw to them, but if you threw a penny, it was too big to fit and they would throw it back at the side of the ship. One little boy had only one arm, the other was gone above his elbow it looked like it had happened only recently, he seemed to be having trouble so I threw him my sixpence and he dived down deep to retrieve it but seemed to take forever to come back up, then the water burst forth and he popped up waving his sixpence and shouting thank you thank you, it’s a memory I will never forget. Some older boys started playing up one got an almost empty Eno’s tin with a small amount of Eno’s still in it, he poured some water into the tin with the Eno’s and banged the lid back on tight and threw it down onto the shore where a soldier was standing, as he picked the tin up the pressure of the fizzing Eno’s blew the lid of the tin as the soldier was holding it, he didn't hold it for long bang it went and the soldier yelled you bloody foreigners to the noisy laughs of the people watching from the ship they then rained coins down onto him he dropped to his knees to pick them up smiling and waving to us and onwards towards Australia we sailed. The Australis was one of the last ships to pass through the Suez Canal as the Israeli Egyptian war began with ships being sunk in the canal stopping further access so we were very lucky.
THE TITANIC.
Remember the scene in Titanic, where he stands on the bow of the ship with his arms outstretched to the wind, well that was me I used to go to the front of the ship and climb up on rail and put my arms into the air and shout out loud I can fly ,then we would go down to the swimming pool I loved it when it was stormy seas the water would roll back and forth in the pool the waves would roll bigger and bigger, sometimes it would plonk you onto the deck and the pool would be half empty it was so much fun. We would then sneak down into the giant hall where all the passengers would all go for dinner. The stewards running around like mad, setting up the tables they would let us in the kitchen for ice cream, it was one big party every day. I loved sneaking into the Dining Hall before anyone had got up for breakfast and grabbing plate full’s of the fresh baked bread rolls with Strawberry jams and little packets of butter, I would then retreat to one of my secret hiding places, in one of the many supposedly locked but unlocked fire cupboards, where they have the huge fire hoses and the great big circular valve taps that feed ocean water directly from the ocean below us, a couple of times I tried to open the valve tap but it was too tight for one so young, lucky for me I think as the Captains patience was wearing thin, he had stewards secretly tail me every morning but I always lost them being smaller and quicker, it was funny looking back now I was a tyrant..

THE FIRST AND SECOND TUG BOAT INCIDENTS
. I checked Dads slides and I am sure it was in Greece, as we came into the harbor a tug boat would always come out to tow or push us into a mooring, I would always without failure be up the front on the railing throwing things down at the tug boat, I would start with a cup of sugar cubes and slowly progress 5 to the cup until I got caught and reprimanded by the Captain he was really losing his patience with me and tried his hardest to get me to be a good little boy, he even let me go to the bridge of the ship so I could watch them steer the ship with the big steering wheel. It seems they have rules of engagement for sea battles and this was not one of them, but I always new sugar cubes were good for more than just cups of tea. After this incident there was one more tug boat incident, We were birthed right up against this long dock, I checked Dads slides as he has little notations on the edges of the slides and it appears to have been Greece, the tug boat was called Batman, well you can understand why I was captivated, so I became the Joker, throwing every object that was not nailed down towards the boat below, the people of Greece must have thought a ship had sunk in their harbor, during a brief lull in the battle we had reached our mooring, I had.
now moved to the back of the ship looking down onto the dock it was dusk still light, two men were right down below on the dock checking and securing our ships mooring ropes, up on the ship I was looking for ammunition, along the railing that goes around the entire ship are big light globes every foot that unscrew, much bigger than normal globes, anyway I unscrewed one and leaned over, saw where the men were and chucked it down and it went pop bang, both men jumped a foot in the air, looked up at the ship shouted something foreign but I had hidden out of sight, then as they turned back I unscrewed another light globe and down it went, this went on till half the lights on the ship had gone leaving a big dark gap in the ships dress lighting, the two men were cowering right where I wanted them, but suddenly I was surrounded by angry crew, they had noticed the lights going out one by one by one and investigated, I found out after that they have a steward and a part of his job is making sure that all the Australis’s dress lights are working as the ship looks odd with breaks in the chains of lights at night, well the Captain turned blue, I had damaged his ship and I think he wanted to keel haul me, but I was only 8 and so instead, I was ordered to attend a kindergarten class on B or C deck where they could monitor me and see if they could learn my secrets, but it only lasted a week and I was released after driving the teacher batty. Well they had me playing silly games with much younger kids and I do not think they liked me much as I would play a little rough, although one kid bit me on the arm, so I naturally bit him back and I think it was this incident that had me released from the Captains chains of kindergarten. I could not wait to leave the class, I was straight back to my new playground the upper deck and the lower engine room, in the engine room it was so interesting ladders and stairways that seemed to go down forever, it was not the place for a small boy to play but I could not resist but take a look and once I did it became a regular visiting spot and hiding place. I was a terror, Mum told me once in England we were at my Uncle Arthurs place, mum told him that a neighbour’s dog had bit me, Uncle Arthur said to mum did the dog die, to the laughter of all concerned, I think the United Kingdom was glad when mum and dad left as it meant I had to go also. On board the ship Australis, each day was a child’s paradise it was a place of utter enjoyment almost like an Aladdin’s cave full of wondrous and amazing things, I must have spent a large part of the voyage lay down on the deck with my head through the railings just looking down at the crystal blue water of the oceans. We started in the North Atlantic ocean then passed by the Bay of Biscay around the Strait of Gibraltar and into the Mediterranean sea, then we went through the Suez Canal and into the amazing Red sea then into the Gulf of Aden, then taking us into the Indian ocean turning towards Australia and Perth our first port of call, then past the Great Australian bite to our second port of call in Adelaide, sailing on to Melbourne and finally Sydney Harbor taking us almost a whole month to reach our wonderful new home
.PORT SAID, EGYPT.
We had arrived in Port Said and the Captain gave us a speech about what not to do, like buying cushions or padded things as the poor vendors who flock to where the ships birth would have boats filled with souvenirs and they would make them from waste, things like bandages from hospitals that they had salvaged and had tried to clean but should not have been used as padding or filling inside the items to be sold, I guess they just could not afford to buy padding, quite resourceful but against the international quarantine laws, so as people re boarded stewards would check what we were bringing back on board and remove any suspect items. We also were warned not to venture far from the ship as it could be quite dangerous for foreigners who did go out on their own, as we were told we could be robbed or worse killed by bandits. But good old Dad not scared of anything took Mum Colin and I for a first eye view to the streets of the city, as we walked along a little boy came over to us asking for coins so Dad gave him some, when all of a sudden a soldier wearing big steel capped boots kicked at him but missed and he ran off into a laneway, a poor starving mule was watching the events unfolding and the soldier not content with just chasing the little boy away proceeded to boot the poor mule, it upset all of us and I could see Dad wanted to intervene but because Mum Colin and I were with him, he held back, how lucky for that soldier, anyway the mule suffered no serious injury and looking back on it now I suppose he thought he was doing the right thing. It was so hot and the smell from the polluted harbor water, just overwhelmed us and I was sick and threw up all over the street, so we headed back to the safety of our, for now new home. We were searched on re-boarding and a photo album with padded sides was confiscated because of disease concerns from the padding filling that the steward showed us was from waste bins at nearby hospital in the form of old bandages and old hospital documents so Dad and Mum were thankful and the stewards were really happy that I was back on board I am sure. Lynn, Anne and Jill had stayed on board the ship and were glad to see us arrive back. Lynn always liked to be left alone without Mum or Dad as she was 15 and very beautiful and liked her freedom and had heaps of young boys chasing after her all of the time and would always run behind Dad if any got too close and he would frighten them away, Lynn was after all his first little Princess. It was great fun living on the ship playing amongst all the amazing things especially the below deck swimming pool, it was in a big walled room with a door that during rough weather is supposed to be locked and the pool drained, but rules are overlooked sometimes and if it was a bit rough at sea the waves would roll from one end of the pool to the other and if you were close to either end you would be lifted out of the pool and would be left standing on the deck until the water would pull you back in again, it could get very rough and near impossible to get out of the pool safely and looking back I was always the only one in there I wonder why, I think I was stuck in there quite a lot on the way to Australia.
AUSTRALIA OUR FIRST SIGHT.
Our very first sight of Australia was incredible, as a flock of giant white albatrosses circled the ship as if greeting us, with our first look at the looming land and first port of call Perth of in the distance growing larger with each hour. At the bow of the ship where the anchors are located it was a fabulous view straight down to the crystal clear aqua blue water below and jumping in the ship bows wake a school of dolphins guided us on, it was truly a magical moment that I will never forget and the smell of the fresh salt air was wonderful. I remember the bright sun was affecting Dads eyes and he was starting to get blurred vision and headaches, sitting on the master bed inside our stately outside cabin on the Upper Deck with his hand to his eye staring through a hole he had made with his closed fist, saying he could see clearer through the tiny hole, so it could not be too serious, if only he knew then what we would soon find out later, I remember years later the solicitor saying to Dad that it was a shame that we had migrated to Australia as if we had have been in the United Kingdom when his eye condition eventuated he would probably have received compensation. Getting back to the story of the ship, we were lucky enough to get a stately cabin because of Colin and I being so young and needing to be supervised at all times, well most of the time as I was very good at escaping and then darting away to freedom with mum not far behind in hot pursuit. Our cabin could accommodate 4 passengers and had private bath and toilet. Colin and I had bunks and I was on the top bunk. Lynn, Anne and Jill had a cabin together on a C deck a lower level where they keep all of the bad convicts. They had a lot of fun and are going to write their own recollections and it will be included as soon as they finish, mum also is going to have a go so keep checking for revised copy.
WE AT LAST REACH AUSTRALIA.
The first memory that I have of Sydney is being on the ship and entering the Heads to Sydney harbor, dolphins came to the sides of the ship and swam us in all the time jumping whilst making clicking and squeaking sounds, it was an incredible sight for an 8 year old boy. Then I remember a strange feeling that I had not experienced to this extent before, it’s what is called de javu or having been some place before and Sydney harbor coming in through the heads, I had seen it before and I was petrified with absolute terror and fear, to the point of hiding on the ship as I did not wish to leave the safety of the Australis but the fear abated as I could hear the other passengers cheering at the sites outside so I joined the family on deck to watch and see the wonderful scenes of Sydney harbor, the Sydney harbor bridge as we docked was right next to us, we then all had to go through customs at Woolloomooloo it was boring, I think I cried all afternoon crammed inside this tiny hall waiting to be processed, then at last it is night time we are all exhausted. THE HEATHCOTE MIGRANT HOSTEL.

We are on a bus to our new home the East Hills Heathcote migrant hostel for 10 pound poms. We arrive and are taken to a large hall that was our dining hall, it sounds exotic but it